Thanks Mom
by DragonGirl317
Summary: Cute Gwen and Dakota moment based off a line in the book. Hope you like. Gwkota?


_"She could even control Dakota during his hyperactive bug juice fits" _(Riordan, 130).

-/-

"Dakota."

A mumble escapes his lips. "Hmm?"

"Get up. Come on." Gwen stooped down and tried to pick him up off the floor of the cabin.

The Feast of Bacchus had been the night before, and Dakota had gone a little crazy on the Kool Aid. So crazy that most of the night had been him on the roof, his red-stained lips mouthing the words to 'Material Girl' as he bounced on a pogo stick dangerously close to the edge.

Gwen took a deep breath and kicked him.

"OW!"

"I'm so sorry, Dakota! That was from Reyna. She told me when I found you I should give you a good kick in the shin so you could stand up and be a Roman."

She looked down at the seventeen year old. He was curled up on the dirty ground next to the bed he had fallen out of, and if there was one word to describe him it would be pathetic.

Dakota grunted. "I don't feel...like being Roman...leave a message after the beep..."

"Dakota-"

"BEEP!" he shouted.

"Kota, you missed morning muster, and the first two hours of training. I know you're tired, but come on, you have to get up." She opened the curtains. "Look outside! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, Octavian is yelling at probies..."

"The light...it burns..." With his eyes closed, he reached up to grab the comforter off of his bed and covered himself with it.

Gwen sighed. They always sent her in when he gets like this. She wondered if his mother had ever had to talk him out of it like she did. Then she remembered: his mother had died when he was four.

"Living...in a material world..." he muttered "And I am a material...girl"

She reached down to grab his arm again. This time, he let her drag him into a sitting position. She pulled off his dirty socks and put on clean ones as he rubbed his eyes and chanted the first verse of the infamous Madonna song.

She had brought his armor and weapons, but she didn't feel comfortable handing Dakota an Imperial gold knife while he was on bug juice.

Gwen was, however, comfortable with changing his shirt. She peeled off his old one, which held stains of Kool-Aid, and managed to keep a motherly expression as he ran around the cabin, shirtless, yelling something about the camels in Asia.

It took three minutes to force the purple Camp Jupiter shirt over his head. It took seven to tie his shoes, eight to properly adjust his armor, and eleven to convince him that no, Reyna's dogs would not eat him.

"But, Gwen, they have huge teeth! Have you seen them? They're the size of...of...something really big! And their eyes? They're all stare-y and it creeps me out!"

His face looked like a two year olds when describing the monsters living under their bed. Gwen allowed him to hug her around the waist, but she had forgotten how strong he was. In the process of describing how hungry Aurum and Argentum had looked last night, he pulled her into his lap.

"Oh, Dakota, I'm sure they won't eat you! They're really nice! They just look scary."

"Really?" He stands up, Gwen still in his arms. "Okay, well, if you're sure..."

"I am. Now, put me down, okay? There. Good. Now, are you ready to go to training?"

He nodded. His eyes looked a little clearer, and not clouded by sugar.

Gwen sometimes wondered how much of these scenes he remembered. She had always been the one who calmed him down when he ran out of red Kool-Aid and had to drink the blue. She could talk him out of a sugar high like no one else, but he had never once thanked her or done anything to indicate that her being here for him counted for anything.

Did he even know that she was here for him?

Gwen opened the door. Dakota squinted, but stepped outside. He looked less like a two year old, and more like a Roman. The noon sun streamed through his black hair, and he smiled. Not the historical smile he had been wearing half an hour ago, but a normal Dakota smile.

And then he turned back to her.

He looked a little confused, but he pulled her into a hug. Gwen realized how much taller he was than her.

"I love you..."

Her heart soared. She squeezed him tighter. This was amazing. He really did love her! Gwen had always imagined him saying that, and she couldn't believe...

"Thanks..." he continued, then cleared his throat. "Mom."


End file.
